What the mission means to Jenifer
The throughline of my work is the translation of science and evidence into practice – translating what we know about the developmental needs of very young children into services and supports that create the conditions in which all young children and their families can thrive. I wake up every morning grateful and excited to be able to carry out this work at ZERO TO THREE – an organization where the work we do is bold, innovative, expansive, and visionary.
Professional Background
In her role, Dr. Fraser brings a comprehensive body of knowledge to strategic planning, evaluation and research design, resource development, and national dissemination efforts. A research developmental psychologist with public health training and experience, Dr. Fraser specializes in infant and early childhood mental health, early childhood trauma, and effective implementation of evidence-based interventions. With more than 25 years of experience in real-world and academic settings, her longstanding research and programmatic interests focus on improving systems of care to ameliorate risk and support healthy outcomes for at risk children and families.
Dr. Fraser’s leadership experience includes planning, implementing, and evaluating large-scale efforts to enhance the capacity of child welfare and other systems to provide trauma-informed care. She has conducted and led evaluation and research studies on early childhood intervention and treatment, including translational research on the effective dissemination of a court improvement model for adjudicated young children, as well as rigorous systematic reviews on child maltreatment preventive interventions and early childhood trauma treatment. She is a graduate fellow of ZERO TO THREE’s Leadership Development Institute (class of 2003-2005).
Affiliations/Expert Input:
- Reviewer, Child Abuse & Neglect
- Reviewer, Journal of Traumatic Stress
- Steering Committee, Network of Infant Toddler Researchers (NitR), Administration for Children and Families Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (2024 – present)
- Advisory Board, Boston University School of Public Health MCH Center of Excellence for MCH Education, Science, and Practice (2024 – present)
- Invited Participant, Building Consensus on Components and Outcomes of Trauma-Informed Care, SAMHSA, Rockville, MD (May 2023) and Creating an Agenda for Trauma-Informed Care Summit, SAMHSA, Rockville, MD (July 2023)
- Convening of Experts to Enhance the Partnership to End Addiction’s Early Prevention Agenda, New York, NY (October 2022)
- Improving Services for Violence Against Children and Women During a Pandemic Stakeholder Group, American Academy of Pediatrics and Futures Without Violence (2020-2021)
- Guidelines Development Group developing guidelines for the health sector response to child maltreatment, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (2015-2018): WHO Guidelines for the health sector response to child maltreatment
- Implementation Task Force, SAMHSA National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2012-2016)
Selected Expert Input:
- Creating an Agenda for Trauma-Informed Care Summit, SAMHSA, Rockville, MD (July 2023)
- Building Consensus on Components and Outcomes of Trauma-Informed Care, SAMHSA, Rockville, MD (May 2023)
- Convening of Experts to Enhance the Partnership to End Addiction’s Early Prevention Agenda, New York, NY (October 2022)
- Improving Services for Violence Against Children and Women During a Pandemic Stakeholder Group, American Academy of Pediatrics and Futures Without Violence (2020)
- Guidelines Development Group developing guidelines for the health sector response to child maltreatment, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (2015-2018): WHO Guidelines for the health sector response to child maltreatment
Selected Publications:
Casanueva, C., Williams, J., Kluckman, M., Harris, S., & Fraser, J.G. (2024). The effect of the ZTT ITCTs on type and time of exits from out-of-home care: A new study ten years after the first competing risks analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107327
Casanueva, C., Kluckman, M., Harris, S., Brown, J., & Fraser, J.G. (2022). Supporting parents’ services access during the COVID-19 Pandemic through the ITCT program. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 26(12), 2377-2384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-022-03527-x
Fraser, J.G., & Klain, E.J. (2020). Advocacy for infants and toddlers: The urgency of a trauma- and developmentally-informed approach. The Guardian (quarterly law journal published by the National Association of Counsel for Children), 42(1), 1-8.
Fraser, J.G., Norona, C.R., Bartlett, J.D., Zhang, J., Spinazzola, J., Griffin, J.L., … Barto, B. (2018). Screening for trauma symptoms in child welfare-involved young children: Findings from a statewide trauma-informed care initiative. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 12(3), 399-409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-018-0240-x
Viswanathan, M., Fraser, J.G., Huiling, P., Morgenlander, M., McKeeman, J.L., Forman-Hoffman, V.L., … Jonas, D.E. (2018). Primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment: Updated evidence report and systematic review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Journal of the American Medical Association, 320(20), 2129-2140. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.17647
Hanson, R.F., Lang, J., Fraser, J.G., Agosti, J., Ake, G., Donishch, K., and Gewirtz, A. J. (2017). Trauma-informed systems of care: Definitions and statewide initiatives. In J. Conte and B. Kilka (Eds.), The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment, 4th Edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
Fraser, J.G., Griffin, J.L, Barto, B., Lo, C., Wenz-Gross, M., Spinazzola, J., & Nisenbaum, J. (2014). Implementation of a workforce initiative to build trauma informed child welfare practice and services: Findings from the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project. Children and Youth Services Review, 44, 233-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.06.016
Fraser, J.G., Lloyd, S., Murphy, R., Crowson, M., Zolotor, A.J., Coker-Schwimmer, E., & Viswanthan, M. (2013). A comparative effectiveness review of parenting and trauma-focused interventions for children exposed to maltreatment. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 34(5), 353-368. https://doi.org/10.1097/dbp.0b013e31828a7dfc
Forman-Hoffman, V. L., Zolotor, A.J., McKeeman, J.L., Blanco, R., Knauer, S.R., Lloyd, S.W., Fraser, J.G., & Viswanathan, M. (2013). Comparative effectiveness of interventions for children exposed to nonrelational traumatic events. Pediatrics, 131(3), 526-539. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-3846
Future Vision
Jenifer holds the vision that our society has the collective capacity to make sure that every child and family has equitable access to resources and opportunities that lead to health, well-being, and resilience. Solutions are possible when we think and work together, informed by the abundant knowledge we have in-hand and through continuous learning and evidence-building!
